The auction will run from 12am Eastern on June 23rd to 11pm Eastern on June 27th.

Facebook does not always put photo comments in order, so before you bid, make sure you look through the bids carefully to find the number to beat.

The "5-minute rule" will apply. What does this mean? If someone bids on an item within the last 5 minutes of the auction, the end time is extended by 5 minutes. Every time someone bids after this point, the auction is again extended by 5 minutes. For example, if Susie bids on Pig Art at 10:57pm Eastern then the auction is extended until 11:02pm. If Jill places a bid on Pig Art at 11:01pm, the auction is then extended until 11:06pm. Susie and Jill may end up in a "bidding war," so this could go on for several minutes until one of them gives up and more than 5 minutes passes after the last bid.

Bids must be in whole dollar amounts (If the last bid is $20, you cannot bid $20.01. You must bid $21 or more).

Winners will send their donations directly to Pig Placement Network. If you win an auction, please wait for me to message you with instructions before sending in your donation. I have to tell you what to put in the note accompanying your payment to the charity. PPN treasurer Eileen Wanamaker will then verify your payment so I can send out your polish.

Winners must also send me money to pay for shipping ($3 within the US, $7 to Canada). If you live outside the US/Canada, you must find a trustworthy friend within the US/Canada to serve as your "mule" because I'm not very experienced in overseas shipping.

Please be respectful and kind to each other! If you get into a bidding war with someone, duke it out with numbers, not unkind words!

Good luck! Let's help the pigs!

I lost the auction/cannot participate in the auction, but I still want to help the pigs! What can I do?

PPN is registered with Amazon Smile as "Society for the Advancement of Pet Pigs Inc." If you add PPN as your charity on your Amazon account, Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases to the charity.

I'd just like to take a moment to thank all the amazing indie makers who participated in this auction. Noelie, Alison, Dolly, Carrie, Lulu, and Andrea...you guys are all so incredibly kind and talented and I cannot thank you enough for helping me with this! While I was willing to pay for all of the polishes, you ladies helped me out big time by donating the auction bottles (and in some cases, the swatch bottles as well!). Thank you so much for responding so enthusiastically to my somewhat offbeat fundraising project. It really means the world to me <3

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Hey folks! Very soon, I'll be organizing a small charity auction to benefit Pig Placement Network (a registered 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization), with the request that the money donated be used to help the homeless potbellied pigs being fostered at Ross Mill Farm & Piggy Camp. Ross Mill is currently home to 109 adoptable pigs, and they need everything from food, to medical care, to blankets and more! The auction will be held on my Facebook page starting June 23rd (rules and details to come later)!

All polishes were custom-made for this event and will not be available outside the auction. Two bottles of each color have been made, but only one of each will ever be made available for purchase at the auction. The second bottle is my "swatch bottle," which will allow me to take promotional swatch photos without ruining the auction bottles. These swatch bottles will remain in my possession forever and will not be auctioned.

The sixth (and final) custom polish is Indigo Bananas A Pig Fell In the Mud. A Pig Fell In the Mud is a fabulously complex polish. It features a black base filled with color-shifting shimmers and large, colorful flakes. The shimmers cause the base color of the polish to appear brown when viewed head-on, and a fabulous shade of green when viewed at an angle. The flakes are very visible and lie nice and flat. The formula is lovely, and 3 thin coats provide lots of depth and full opacity. Dry time is average. This polish is incredibly unique and quite amazing from a technical standpoint, so I think the person who wins the auction for this one will be very happy with it!

In sun

With flash

The green shift is amazing!

In shade

In shade

Blurry to show shimmer

Check out this video of A Pig Fell In the Mud!

The Inspiration Behind A Pig Fell In The Mud

We're going to end this on a fun note! No sad stories of piggy abandonment this time :-) I gave Andrea, the owner of Indigo Bananas, complete control over this polish. The name, the design, everything. As a result, it's very, very...Andrea. Andrea says:

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Hey folks! Very soon, I'll be organizing a small charity auction to benefit Pig Placement Network (a registered 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization), with the request that the money donated be used to help the homeless potbellied pigs being fostered at Ross Mill Farm & Piggy Camp. Ross Mill is currently home to 109 adoptable pigs, and they need everything from food, to medical care, to blankets and more! The auction will be held on my Facebook page starting June 23rd (rules and details to come later)!

All polishes were custom-made for this event and will not be available outside the auction. Two bottles of each color have been made, but only one of each will ever be made available for purchase at the auction. The second bottle is my "swatch bottle," which will allow me to take promotional swatch photos without ruining the auction bottles. These swatch bottles will remain in my possession forever and will not be auctioned.

The fifth polish I'd like to show you is Elevation Polish Blue Skies Over Ross Mill. Blue Skies Over Ross Mill is a soft, light blue creme filled with red/gold shifting shimmer (shows up looking more pinky-violet/gold) and a soft linear holo effect. It's a rather tricky shade of blue to describe...sometimes I feel like it has a hint of gray, other times it appears to lean slightly periwinkle. Overall, it's just a lovely, serene type of color. As is typical of Elevation Polish, the formula was perfect. Full opacity is reached in 2-3 coats. Dry time is average. I really love it!

In sun

With flash

Indoors, by a window

Check out this video of Blue Skies Over Ross Mill!

The Inspiration Behind Blue Skies Over Ross Mill

This polish is inspired by the beautiful atmosphere at the farm. Ross Mill is located at the end of a narrow road in rural Pennsylvania. It's very secluded and, as a result, quite peaceful. The pigs (and people) roam the farm in bliss on clear, bright, sunny days. The people who work there do magical, wonderful, and beautiful things. They provide over 100 neglected and abandoned pigs with a loving foster home. They help sick pigs get healthy, and help fat-blind pigs lose weight so they may see again. Mistreated pigs learn to trust people. Pregnant pigs who get rescued are able to have their babies in a safe environment, and they get spayed so they never have to face an accidental litter again. Ross Mill works with Pig Placement Network to find homes for as many pigs as possible...and even if a pig never finds their forever home, they are at least able to live out the rest of their life surrounded by people who care so deeply for them. This soft blue, filled with shifty shimmer and holographic pigment, is a wonderful representation of how serene and magical Ross Mill Farm is.

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Hey folks! Very soon, I'll be organizing a small charity auction to benefit Pig Placement Network (a registered 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization), with the request that the money donated be used to help the homeless potbellied pigs being fostered at Ross Mill Farm & Piggy Camp. Ross Mill is currently home to 109 adoptable pigs, and they need everything from food, to medical care, to blankets and more! The auction will be held on my Facebook page starting June 23rd (rules and details to come later)!

All polishes were custom-made for this event and will not be available outside the auction. Two bottles of each color have been made, but only one of each will ever be made available for purchase at the auction. The second bottle is my "swatch bottle," which will allow me to take promotional swatch photos without ruining the auction bottles. These swatch bottles will remain in my possession forever and will not be auctioned.

The fourth polish I'd like to show you is Darling Diva Polish Teacups Are For Tea. This is a light pink linear holographic polish packed with little gold flakies. The holographic effect is very strong and stunning in the sunlight, while the delicate gold flakies are enchanting in the shade. The formula is lovely. For best results, use 3 thin coats. Dry time was average.

In sun

Inside, with flash

In shade

Inside, by a window

Inside, sunlight streaming in through the window

Check out this video of Teacups Are For Tea!

The Inspiration Behind Teacups Are For Tea

Teacups Are For Tea was designed to look like those old-fashioned, gold-edged, floral pattern teacups. The only thing these teacups should be associated with is tea, but unfortunately, some shady individuals have decided to spread the lie of the "teacup pig." Dishonest breeders claim that they have created pigs that will get no bigger than 40 pounds or so (some make even more outrageous claims of 10 pound pigs), but it is all a lie. They show off tiny parents without disclosing the fact that pigs reach sexual maturity at a young age, and that the parents of the "teacup pigs" are not fully grown. Many piglets are removed from their mothers too early. The worst breeders will send buyers home with feeding instructions which will cause malnourishment. If these poor animals manage to survive to adulthood, they grow much bigger than their owners wanted them to be (60-175 pound potbellied pigs), so they are abandoned. Abandoned pigs have been left in the woods, at kill shelters, and even at meat packing plants. If they are lucky, they eventually find themselves in one of Pig Placement Network's foster homes.

This is Louie, who was sold as a teacup pig. He was about as big as a cup back then!

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

Two years later, he's much bigger than that cup! If you buy a "teacup pig," you're really going to end up with a potbellied pig!

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

As you can see, the word "pig" should not be anywhere near the word "teacup." Teacups are for tea! Thanks to deceptive breeders and the ignorant people who impulsively buy pigs from them, Pig Placement Network's resources are stretched thin. Please help them out by participating in the polish auction next week!

Monday, June 16, 2014

Hey folks! Very soon, I'll be organizing a small charity auction to benefit Pig Placement Network (a registered 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization), with the request that the money donated be used to help the homeless potbellied pigs being fostered at Ross Mill Farm & Piggy Camp. Ross Mill is currently home to 109 adoptable pigs, and they need everything from food, to medical care, to blankets and more! The auction will be held on my Facebook page starting June 23rd (rules and details to come later)!

All polishes were custom-made for this event and will not be available outside the auction. Two bottles of each color have been made, but only one of each will ever be made available for purchase at the auction. The second bottle is my "swatch bottle," which will allow me to take promotional swatch photos without ruining the auction bottles. These swatch bottles will remain in my possession forever and will not be auctioned.

The third polish I'd like to show you is Dollish Polish Pig Art. Pig Art is a glitter topper jam-packed with, well, almost everything. Shreds, squares, hexagons, circles, and even a few of those sequin/ring/donut type glitters are in here! The color scheme appears to consist mostly of blues, pinks, purples, and greens. It goes on nicely and it isn't hard to get a wide variety of shapes on the nail. Unfortunately, my base color, Cult Nails Tempest, doesn't look so good here. It was quite thick, did not want to dry well, and tends to streak when top coated with anything. Just try to ignore Tempest and focus on the cute glitter instead!

In shade

In sun

The Inspiration Behind Pig Art

Pigs are highly intelligent creatures and love engaging in new and exciting activities (especially if it involves food!). One of the ways that the folks at Ross Mill keep the pigs busy is by helping them to create pig art! Here's how it works:

You attach canvases to a board

You squirt some paint on the canvases

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

You cover the wet canvases with plastic (be sure to strap it down)

You drizzle/sprinkle treats like applesauce, yogurt, and ground up pig food on top of the plastic

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

You let the pigs walk all over the board, licking up the food

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

Remove plastic and ta daa! Pig art!

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

Creating pig art not only keeps the pigs busy, but it helps them raise money for Pig Placement Network! You can browse available pieces HERE and order one if you find one you like! Just be aware that you may need to have a backup choice in mind...the folks at PPN are very busy and don't always have a chance to update the gallery immediately :-)

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Hey folks! Just wanted to show you a quickie nail art post and give you a break from all the piggies! If it were up to me, it might be all pigs all the time, but I'm guessing you would all get sick of that ;-)

Before we get started, I'd like to point out that I used these decals the wrong way on purpose.You are supposed to just stick the shapes on your nail and top coat them. If you use them the wrong way, it likely won't look perfect, so be prepared for that. If you would like to see You Polish nail decals better suited to this style of use, check out my other post HERE! If you enjoy challenging yourself, keep reading!

How I Did It:

Apply a base color (in this case, Colors by Llarowe Blonde Ambition) and add fast-dry top coat. Make sure you let it dry for a long time (I waited until the next day, but you could probably get away with only wating two hours or so).

Choose your accent nails and apply your decals. It may help to lessen the sticky-ness of the decals by handling the sticky sides a bit before laying them down on the nail.

Paint over your decals with your accent color (in this case, Colors by Llarowe CbL Addicts Blue Me Away). You must use a very opaque "one-coater" type of polish.

In good lighting, find the edges of your decals. Using tweezers, grasp the edge of each decal and then peel off the decal. You must do this while your accent color is still wet.

I then chose to give the butterflies bodies using my accent color and a thin nail art brush.

Allow to dry for a while and add fast-dry top coat to your accent nails. It is best to "float" a blob of top coat over the design so the brush does not make contact with the nail and form smears.

There are 3 kinds of butterflies on the butterfly decal sheets. You get more than 6 butterflies, don't worry! I just wanted to show a close-up!

I'm hoping that You Polish will release stencil versions of their small shapes someday! In the meantime, I'll just use them the wrong way, haha. A sheet of 72 butterfly decals sells for $5.50. You can buy YouPolish nail decals HERE and follow the brand on Facebook HERE.

Friday, June 13, 2014

Hey folks! Very soon, I'll be organizing a small charity auction to benefit Pig Placement Network (a registered 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization), with the request that the money donated be used to help the homeless potbellied pigs being fostered at Ross Mill Farm & Piggy Camp. Ross Mill is currently home to 109 adoptable pigs, and they need everything from food, to medical care, to blankets and more! The auction will be held on my Facebook page starting June 23rd (rules and details to come later)!

All polishes were custom-made for this event and will not be available outside the auction. Two bottles of each color have been made, but only one of each will ever be made available for purchase at the auction. The second bottle is my "swatch bottle," which will allow me to take promotional swatch photos without ruining the auction bottles. These swatch bottles will remain in my possession forever and will not be auctioned.

The second polish I'd like to show you is ALIQUID Lacquer Nobody Doesn't Like Sara Lee! This is a black linear holographic polish with gold and pink flecks. It's not the tightest/strongest rainbow (the more holographic pigment you add, the more gray your black will become), but it is quite magical and lovely. I love catching the little sparks of gold and pink among the rainbow! The formula was nice and while two coats should be sufficient, I did three to be safe (macro is so unforgiving!). Dry time was average. I really adore this color and the name makes me smile (you'll see why if you continue reading!).

In sun (yeah, this was a tricky one to photograph!)

Indoors, with flash

Look at those sparks of pink and gold!

Check out this video to see the polish in action!

The Inspiration Behind Nobody Doesn't Like Sara Lee!

This is how fans of Ross Mill's Facebook page were introduced to Sara Lee:

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

As you can see, sweet Sara Lee arrived at the farm in a terribly obese state. Her owner had passed away three years earlier, leaving her in the care of relatives who had no idea how to care for a pig. As a result, she gained an incredible amount of weight. Many people think that pigs should be fat and that a fat pig=a healthy pig, but they really aren't healthy when they get too big. Thankfully, Sara Lee found herself at Ross Mill, where they are highly experienced in helping pigs lose weight.

Check out that progress! These pics were taken in September 2013, January 2014, and April 2014.

Photos by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

Facebook fans were treated to many adorable photos of Sara Lee, and she quickly became one of the most loved pigs at the farm. As the famous baked goods slogan goes, nobody doesn't like Sara Lee!

Isn't she precious?!

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

Don't you just want to pinch those chubby, uhh, jowls?!

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

One of her best piggy friends is her snuggle buddy, Wilbur Devlin, a dapper old gentleman who often wears a coat!

Photo by Jennifer Brown, Ross Mill Farm Facebook page

Today, Sara Lee isn't quite at her goal weight, but she is definitely smaller, healthier, and more active! In fact, she's now healthy enough to be adopted to someone committed to helping her reach her ideal weight. I really hope that this adorable girl finds her family very soon!

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About Me

I'm a 26-year-old who loves nail polish far too much! I got into this mess a little under a year ago when I got engaged and didn't want anyone to catch sight of my ugly, peeled, and bitten nails when checking out my ring. I can proudly say that I haven't bitten/peeled my nails since then!

Due to some medical issues affecting my hands, I will likely never have perfect nail shapes and pretty poses. I hope that you can look past the imperfect canvas and enjoy the swatches, art, and reviews anyway.

Please use the contact form towards the top of the page for any specific questions, PR inquiries, etc.